Hollywood Arts Musical
by chasingafterstarlight
Summary: But here she is, beside him, her melodic voice blending with his as they make their way into the chorus, and he can't stop staring at her. But now she's meeting his eyes too, and – what is this? He can't quite explain it. He's never felt it before. / An audition for a musical and a crazy new girl turn Hollywood Arts upside down. Beck/Jade, based off of High School Musical.


Hollywood Arts Musical

.

Beck/Jade

.

There are, Jade thinks, a lot of advantages to being emancipated from one's parents. For example, that would imply that she wouldn't have to go on their stupid vacations to dumb ski resorts that offer nothing for actors slash scriptwriters, and it would also mean that she wouldn't have to be stuck there on freaking _New Year's Eve _instead of - well, at home. In her _comfort zone_.

"Jade." It is her mother's whiny trill; she can tell without even looking up. With a sigh, she glances up, indicating for her mother to continue, which, of course, she does. "You should go to the New Years' Eve party tonight! It's for teens, and I think it'd do you some good to socialize. You know, like a normal teen."

_Right, _Jade thinks, because she's totally a normal teen – a normal teen with an eyebrow piercing and chestnut hair dyed black with blue streaks rampant throughout. She rolls her eyes. "No."

"You're going, Jade." Her mother's voice becomes rougher. "You're not going to sit here and mope all night. Your father and I are going to the adult party, and you're not going to sit here alone."

"Watch me." Her tone is comparatively dark; her parents always manage to get on her bad side.

"Jade, I'm serious about this. Either you go to the youth party, or we cancel your audition at Hollywood Arts. Your choice."

"Mom, that's not fair!" Jade yelps. It's been her dream for ages to go there, and now finally – _finally_ – she has the chance, and her mom's going to take it away just because of her antisocial tendencies? As if. Jade West won't go down without a fight.

"No one ever said life was fair," and then, as if she's anticipating her daughter's response, "come on, I've laid out your best clothes. Hurry along. It'll be fun."

_Right_, Jade thinks, because hanging around a bunch of practically prepubescent imbeciles is typically classified as fun. _Not._

.

"I swear," Beck's mother calls as she walks into the room, dark eyes flitting around to land on his face, "if you read those lines aloud one more time, I will rip your hair out piece by piece."

Beck Oliver chuckles. "I have the lead in this play, Mom. I've got to rehearse. And besides, would you rather me be in the bathroom, fixing my hair and practicing my _girl talk _as you call it?" He winks at her, knowing how much she despises it; his mother has always been quite the outspoken feminist.

"Oh, you hush," she chides. "I think you need some time away from this script, Beck, honey. There's a youth party downstairs, and I think you ought to go to it. I'm dragging your father to the adult party – you know how much he hates socialization, gosh, it's a struggle – but if I can get him to go, then I can most certainly get you, so I suggest you don't resist. Oh, and wear that new shirt I got you."

Beck is already shrugging it on. "Have fun, mom. I'll try not to go over my lines constantly in my head, all right?"

"And you don't go flirting with all the ladies either, you hear?" His mom flits over to him and kisses him quickly on the cheek. "You know I'm proud of you, Beck. But I don't want you to overwork yourself. You need to be a normal teenager sometimes too."

"Normal's boring," Beck responds, his cheeks curving up into a cheeky smile. But he grins at her and waves as he walks out, wondering what a night full of teenagers can entail. (Probably not positive things, he imagines.)

.

Jade's not expecting much when she saunters into the party, wearing her favorite black dress and a pair of high heels, her hair cascading down in waves around her shoulders. She thinks maybe she'll get some of the lame punch and pretend to be interested in whatever's going on there, learn enough to satisfy her mother, and then quietly slip out. After all, she's _really_ not much for socialization – especially with the throng of weirdos surrounding her.

She sits down on a bench, throwing one long, pale leg over the other, waiting for a chance to escape where no one will really notice. Two losers are up on the stage, singing some pathetic version of karaoke; she can barely even recognize the song, though, because it's so bad. Secretly she longs to get up there and show them how it's done, but Jade only sings in the comfort of her own home.

She sighs and slips a notebook out of her purse, along with a nice black pen. But as soon as she scribbles one word down – _Once _– the spotlight lands on her.

Squinting into the bright light, she tries to figure out what this means. Across the room, there's some broad-shouldered pretty boy who's looking up into the light too – but why? For what? Then the obnoxious guy on the stage is yelling for them to come up onto the stage and, not wanting to risk public humiliation, she complies.

"Let's hear it for some hot karaoke," the guy yells, and then turning back to Jade and the shaggy-haired kid, "Ya know, some day you two might thank me for this. But probably not."

.

The girl to his left is scowling ostensibly. She is fascinating to an extent; her hair, black streaked with purple, her eyes, the color of the ocean, her pale, perfect skin – yes, she is beautiful, in her own sort of way. He doesn't want her to leave, really, despite her bad attitude about this whole karaoke thing and her refusal to meet his eyes, but then, after staring at her for a while, suddenly he realizes that he is supposed to be singing. He clears his throat and begins to sing. "_Living in my own world, didn't understand that anything can happen when you take a chance."_

He knows the song, ironically; it's been on the radio often enough, and while he really doesn't sing (that is for the musical theater guys, 80% of whom are, at his school, more feminine than the girl beside him), this is special. He doesn't want to mess up – and especially not in front of _this girl._

He's honestly not expecting her to join in, but on the female part, she chimes in with, "_I never believed in what I couldn't see. I never opened my eyes to all the possibilities."_

And her voice is beautiful. He had kind of figured, really; she didn't seem the type of girl to go down without a fight, so had she been awful at singing, she would've gone down screaming. But here she is, beside him, her melodic voice blending with his as they make their way into the chorus, and he can't stop staring at her. But now she's meeting his eyes too, the hints of a smile tugging at her cheeks, and – what is this? He can't quite explain it. He's never felt it before.

Their eyes don't leave each other's for the rest of the song. Beck doesn't believe in love at first sight; of that, he is certain. That is a myth, just like unicorns and Bigfoot and the freaking Loch Ness Monster. But he believes in love, plain and simple love, in itself, and he knows that what he is feeling for this girl is far from platonic. And the worst part is that he doesn't even know her name.

The music stops then, and it's just them – just Beck and this girl, this girl who's practically from another planet, another realm, this girl who has just stolen his heart in a matter of like, three minutes. He grins at her. "My name's Beck."

"Jade," she tells him sharply, but he can see the pleasure etched into her face, and he has the capability to read between the lines. (Contrary to popular belief, he's not _that _stupid.)

_Jade, _he thinks. _Jade. _A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. And, cheesy as it sounds, it's true.

.

Jade hadn't expected to meet anyone on this stupid ski trip. Honestly, all of the guys at her school were either losers or totally terrified of her, most of them being both. But now there's Beck and he won't freaking leave her alone and he stares at her like she's _beautiful _instead of terrifying and maybe she doesn't mind for now. Maybe.

"You're a singer?" he questions as he hands her a cup of hot chocolate.

"If you count singing in my bathroom," Jade deadpans, taking a sip of her hot chocolate and smiling slightly as it burns her tongue.

"Why?" Beck looks legitimately puzzled by this, and she probably _shouldn't _but she kind of thinks it's cute, and _oh gosh_ why is this happening to her. It shouldn't happen, not here, not now – but _it is_ and she's not really sure what to do cause she's honestly never dealt with it, with emotions, with _romance_ before, not before now.

"Because." She sighs. "I guess I'm sort of insecure about my voice, you know? I mean, the rest of me, it's take it or leave it. Rough and tough Jade West, doesn't give a crap about anything. But my voice, my singing voice – it's all soft and low and _personal_ and it feels like I'm letting people in too deep."

"Makes sense," Beck tells her with a nod, and she feels that same spark of confusion slash excitement that he doesn't, in fact, think she's crazy; instead, he's agreeing with her. A _gorgeous boy_ is saying he knows how she feels. She figures this is all just a dream – or whatever – because seriously, stuff like this just doesn't happen to her. "I'm kind of crap at this too, you know. Singing and all that. I'm, by definition, an actor. I don't get involved with musicals and stuff. I'm really serious about my acting."

"Same, actually, though I'm lately more of a scriptwriter," she remarks wryly. "Some people are scared of me, would you believe that?"

"I don't see it," he says with a laugh. "You're just as scary as a little fluffy cat."

"I take offense to that," she replies darkly, but she smiles up at him. Then the dumb countdown – her favorite part of the night, though – begins, and her face lights up. "_Thank goodness_! The death of 2012. I've been waiting for this moment since _last_ Old Year's Death."

To his credit, he just laughs and then stares at her with that _stare _that makes her heart beat just a little bit faster and she hates this, she really does. And the countdown keeps going. _Five… four… three… two…_

.

_One._ He glances over at Jade, at the satisfied smile on her face and the way she seems delighted, almost, by the death of the year. His face is moving closer to hers almost reflexively, almost as if this is what's meant to happen, when suddenly – a loud explosion. He jerks away from Jade, smiling as fireworks light up the air, and then glances over at her.

"Probably should be getting back," Jade mumbles, her pale cheeks coloring. "I mean, I can't stand the majority of the people here for much longer."

"Give me your number?" he inquires, handing over his rusty phone and taking hers when she stretches it out without saying another word. She rolls her eyes and takes his phone, and he watches her as she taps on the screen quickly, her hair falling into her face. Realizing that he has inevitably gotten distracted, he quickly types his number into his phone. It's not like him to get so worked up over a girl, he thinks, but she is different. _Jade_ is different. (He likes her name; he likes to repeat it in his head. _Jade Jade Jade._)

She hands his phone back silently, and he turns back to watch the fireworks for a second. "Hey Jade," he says, turning back around to face her, "where do you –"

But he is too late. She is gone. She is ephemeral, short-lasting, and had he not been staring at her picture in his phone, he would have thought she was just a dream. That is one of the things he eventually comes to learn: Jade West never stays for long.

/

Hollywood Arts has not changed much over Christmas break. As soon as Beck Oliver walks in the door, hair gelled to perfection, heartbreaking smile on his face, everyone crowds around him, girls especially; he has gained that sort of status from being one of the 'founding fathers' – he came here in his 8th grade year, back when the school was just starting up.

"Beck, man!" Beck spins to see his best friend, Andre, a boy with a grin plastered on his face. "Dude, you psyched for this new play or what? I've started on the orchestra portion of it, just for background effects – I know you don't sing, and thank goodness for _that_. This is going to be Hollywood Arts' best play _yet_, and we're all gonna get scholarships and _wow_." Beck's halfway convinced that Andre hasn't breathed since the beginning of his long-winded speech; honestly, he wouldn't be surprised.

"You know it." Beck flashes Andre a grin, but that grin falls once he sees Trina Vega parading down the hallways. As she walks, the crowd parts to let her by; she stops only to bark "Don't touch _perfection_!" at some poor, unfortunate soul. Beck just has to chuckle; some things just never change.

"She's right, you know," Andre mutters. "You shouldn't touch failure. I hear it's contagious."

Beck has to stifle a laugh. Trina Vega is certainly talented; it's her personality, though, that makes her so undesirable. The school doesn't touch her, though – being talented and pretty _does_ have its advantages, after all, and Trina Vega is most assuredly both, however annoying she may be.

He can hear the nasty whispers of the self-named outcasts as they saunter down the hallways, something along the lines of 'ew, who let the animals out of the zoo?', and as insulting as it is, Beck doesn't really mind. It is like this; it has always been like this. This is the way things are.

It doesn't matter because he is Beck Oliver, the Golden Boy of Hollywood Arts, and _nothing _is going to change that.

.

"You give students credit for drama and stuff?" Jade inquires curiously as she walks down the hallway. She's never been in a school quite like this one, where acting is accepted, embraced even; the school she used to be in included a small, penniless drama club which was composed of the school losers. This, she finds, is fascinating.

"Yes, Miss West, and stuff," the principal says with a slight chuckle. "We put much emphasis at this school on performing arts, primarily acting, singing, scriptwriting, dancing… all of them, so yes, they are given school credit for those things. Are you up for an adjustment of your schedule?"

"Always," Jade answers.

Five minutes later, she is strolling down the hallway to her first class of the day, which, ironically, is drama, with some man named _Sikowitz_. It's a weird name; admittedly she hasn't heard of someone with a name like that before, but once she gets into his class, she realizes already that he's going to live up to his name. He doesn't even have shoes on – what sort of teacher _does _that? And his pants are made of a bunch of patches all sewed together into some sort of patchwork thing. She wrinkles up her nose, and then marches up to the man, hands him her schedule, and saunters to the back of the room, head held up high, eyes not landing on anyone. She couldn't care less.

"Ah, a new student," Sikowitz says, glancing at her. "West, your name is? Jade West?"

She hears an audible gasp from someone in the room, though she can't be bothered to find out who. With a slow nod, she says, "That _would_ be me. I prefer to go by Jade, though. West is so cliché."

"Understood," Sikowitz replies with a mark on the sheet. "Anyway! Today we are going to learn about improv." He is interrupted, though, by the harsh sound of a ringing phone, and his nose wrinkles up in pain. "Children, children! There will be no cellphones in this class this semester. I had just about enough of that last semester. Cough 'em up… yes, that means you, Trina. Hand it here, Mr. Shapiro. Harris! Oliver! Your girlfriend can wait till you get home! And oh wait, Miss West. All of you! Detention with me after school!"

Jade, though, nearly goes scarlet. It had been her phone that was ringing, she knows for sure, but it's more the person who was calling that makes her embarrassed. Beck Oliver was calling _her _in the middle of class, but why would he do that, unless…

_Oh. _Oliver. The boy in the front with the long hair who'd gotten his phone taken. Oh. Oh. _Oh._

Jade nearly has a heart attack in the middle of the classroom.

.

_It's her _is all he can think from the moment he hears her phone ring and watches as her big eyes go all wide and _how is this real, how is this happening? _It's insane, he thinks; he almost thought he'd never meet her again. It is funny how stuff like this happens.

He pulls her aside after class, and she stares at him for a moment in disbelief before she laughs. "Well, hey there, hotshot. Didn't know you went here."

"You didn't give me a chance to tell you," he says with a laugh as he walks with her down the hallway. Already heads are turning – who _is _this new girl and why is she walking with Beck Oliver? He laughs once he sees her shooting the inquiring minds glares. "You left so soon."

"Sorry, it's just kinda my thing," Jade responds with a shrug. "So… what the _heck_ was that class?"

"Ah, Sikowitz," Beck chuckles knowingly. "Always the shock for newcomers. I'd say you get used to him, but well… you really don't. Oh, look, and there's the signup for the school musical. I'm sure all of his enthusing has got you _so _eager to sign up."

"Musicals aren't my thing," she deadpans, shooting him a glare. "But, hey – you should sign up, and maybe, if you're lucky, I'll show up and watch."

"In your dreams," he says with an eye roll, which just makes her smirk. "But since I've got you now, let me be the first student to officially welcome you to Hollywood Arts, otherwise known as the land of the freaks and… more freaks. Myself included, for the record."

"True that," she says with a roll of her eyes. "So, gotten yourself geared up for your big record yet?" He knows she's teasing by the slight curve of her mouth, but he protests anyway.

"The singing was kind of a one time, _never again in my life_ sort of thing," he tells her with a slight smile. "I mean, it was fun and everything, especially singing with you, but I just have to concentrate on acting, you know? I want to get into Julliard and go off and…"

"Live your dreams," Jade finishes in a surprisingly soft voice. "I know the feeling. But hey, singing can get you a big advantage in the acting business."

"I'm not _looking_ to be in Disney movies, Jade," Beck says. "Besides, if my friends knew…"

"Too much for them to handle?" Her voice is snarky, like she's judging him, and he resists the urge to shoot something mean back at her.

Instead, he just smiles and shakes his head. "No, just they won't get it. They're all about _manly acting_ and all of that stuff, and I have a feeling that they're kind of disdainful of, you know, the guys in the musical theater division of the school. It's kind of like the cliques of regular school, you know?"

"Right, I got it," Jade says with a roll of her eyes. It is then that Trina Vega saunters up, snatching a pen out of her oversized purse and blinking at the two of them.

"Oh, Beck," she purrs. "Didn't expect to see you here. And it's so nice of you to show our new classmate around, really. She's so precious!"

_Precious_ isn't really a word Beck would use to describe Jade West, and by the insulted look on her face, she completely agrees. She simply nods her head, though, and watches as Trina scrawls her name over the sign up sheet, taking up at least five rows. Trina then smirks back at her. "Oh, sorry, were you going to sign up too?"

"I wouldn't be in a production with you if they paid me," Jade sneers, hitching her shoulder bag up onto her shoulder and glaring at Trina. (Beck almost wants to high five her, but he has a feeling she wouldn't take too well to that either.)

"Oh, that's too bad," Trina says breezily, as if she honestly couldn't care less. "My stepbrother Robbie and I run the Drama Club, and we _always_ welcome newcomers. There are plenty of supporting roles to fill, you know." She gives Jade a patronizing smile.

"I'm so sure," Jade says between gritted teeth, and then, with a glance at Trina's huge, star-dotted letters, "Nice _penmanship_." The sarcasm is oozing off of her words, and Beck can't help but watch as she saunters away, tossing those dark, perfect curls behind her head.

"How can you stand her?" Trina grumbles, her gaze fixed upon Jade. "Honestly, she was _so _rude to me. Oh well. How was your vacation, Beck?"

"All right," Beck mumbles, glancing at the ground. "You know, I went and studied my lines at this ski resort, the normal stuff, did some snowboarding because I've just _got_ to be in shape for the stunts this year before I get knocked out."

"Oh, that's so perfect," Trina purrs. "You should try out for the musical, you know. Me and you would be the _purr-_fect leads. Oh, but I forgot that you don't sing –" he winces, though she obviously doesn't notice, "so you should come watch me in the musical instead. Promise?" She blinks her long eyelashes at him, and he wants to dash off.

"Whatever," Beck says, backing up, because honestly, Trina Vega is like, the most obnoxious person he has ever met and he doesn't quite understand how anyone can tolerate being in her presence for more than a minute. "Um, have a nice time at rehearsal today!" As he dashes off, he hears her call "toodles!" behind him. How weird can one person get?

.

"Hey, Andre," Beck says breathlessly as he plops down beside his best friend at rehearsal. "So, about the musical. I heard you get extra credit in Sikowitz's class just for auditioning."

"So?" Andre wrinkles up his nose. "Dude, that crap isn't anything from this century. There's no jazz or blues or rock or pop or _any of that_. It's like, show music. How gross is that? It's practically a disgrace to musicians everywhere! And I can tell you right now that serious actors, guys like you know, Leo DiCaprio or whoever, they would never be caught _dead _in a school musical."

"I'm sure that's not true," Beck begins, but Andre's already up to begin conducting the musical (and how manly is _that_, anyway?). With a sigh, he walks up to start the first scene, opposite some girl he's sure couldn't even act her way out of a paper bag. They expect him to save the show, as always, and as sweet as that is, it's also very annoying. Honestly, he can't be expected to save the _whole_ show.

"Oliver," all the guys hoot as he walks up, grinning and highfiving him, and all the girls practically faint at the sign of him. This is it, he thinks. This is where he is meant to be.

But yet, somehow it doesn't feel right.

.

Script-writing class, Jade learns, involves a bunch of reading, which she hadn't been expecting, since the name of the class is, actually, script _writing_. But since she's a good student, she's read pretty much every play in the curriculum, and so she figures this class will be no big deal. Learning from the masters and all that.

Much to her dismay, Trina _Vega_ is in this class, slouching back on a stool as if she owns the place. She leans over to Jade conspiratorially as the teacher starts to write the infamous speech from Shakespeare's _Macbeth_ on the board. "So, you know Beck Oliver?"

"Wouldn't go so far as to say that," Jade replies, not much wanting to get in a fight with this obnoxious freak on the first day of school. "He was just showing me around. It's whatever."

"Beck doesn't show people around," Trina contradicts. "He's like, _the_ hottest guy in school, and you're so lucky to have gotten his attention. What exactly did you do?"

"_Nothing_," Jade replies testily, and then, turning back to the board, she quickly surveys the speech. Tentatively, she whispers, "Shouldn't it be 'and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death?"

But apparently the lady picks up on it, because she glances over at her, eyebrow raised in a way that indicates that she is clearly annoyed. "Excuse me, Mrs. West, but that is clearly – oh." The lady blinks. "It appears that I stand corrected. Welcome to Hollywood Arts, Mrs. West. I think that you're going to do just fine in this class."

Trina, who is sitting beside her, looks a combination of awed and outraged. Jade turns to smirk at her, because _really_ any opportunity to rub stuff in is a good one – and _especially_ with this obnoxious girl. She can't have a freak of nature breathing down her neck all the time, now can she?

After class, though, she sees Beck take a glance at the list, then shake his head and walk away. Nearby, Trina is huddled up with some guy with glasses (who doesn't exactly seem her type). Something weird is going on here, she figures, though she doesn't quite know what.

.

She kind of, sort of, figures it out after school, when a girl saunters up to her, a bright smile plastered upon her face. "Hi! I'm Tori Vega."

"Do I care?" Jade inquires, brushing a piece of hair out of her eyes and glancing up at the girl, who has a head of cascading brown hair and bright brown eyes that make her look more like a wounded doe than a high school girl.

"Well, I thought you might, because my sister told me you were more of the outcast type too," Tori squealed. "It's so exciting to have you here! I heard your controversial plays have stirred up _quite_ a riot, and I'm happy to say that we've been pushing some boundaries too lately, especially with our latest short skit _When Squirrels Fall From Trees…_

"Okay, hold up," Jade replies, holding out a hand. "First of all, _who_ is your sister? Second of all, how did you know about my plays? And third of all, what grade are we in here? Kindergarten? Squirrels fall from trees all the time. It's just a part of nature." She rolls her eyes.

"My sister's Trina Vega. She found stuff about you online or something. I'm not really sure. Also she said Beck Oliver was showing you around, but he's kind of a buffoon, you know." She smiles and shrugs. "My friends and I are practically the only intelligent ones at this school, and we'd be pleased to take you under our wing."

_Trina Vega_. Jade's mind starts working at hyperspeed. It all makes sense now. Trina felt _threatened _by her, and so she had decided to sic her annoying baby sister on her. As if it would work that way! Jade just rolls her eyes. "Thanks, but no thanks. I don't need your help."

"Oh please, Jade!" Tori begs, her stupid doe eyes becoming even bigger. "We could really use the help, especially in memorizing scripts, and my sister says you're _especially_ talented in that area. Come on, you _can't_ want to be totally alone for the rest of your high school career."

_Yes_, Jade wants to say, _yes, she does. _But she doesn't say that, because Tori's kind of right, as much as it hurts to admit. She really doesn't want to be a loner like she was at her last school. This is her chance to start over, to attempt, at least, to be friendly, and she shouldn't risk that. So she sighs and nods, letting Tori squeal and grin at her.

"We're going to have such fun, you'll see." But Jade has to say she highly doubts that.

.

"Sikowitz!" The director, a man named Lane, yells as he walks into Sikowitz's office. "Sikowitz, where the _heck_ is my lead and my main conductor? We have a play to rehearse, a play that is to go on in _two weeks _and half of the buffoons hardly know their lines and –"

"Relax," Sikowitz chuckles. "They got detention for having their phones out in class. That is totally legal, right? And besides," he sighs, "they're helping me paint all this stuff for the spring musical."

"It builds character," Trina chirps. Beside her, Robbie Shapiro nods in agreement. Beck just ducks down and hopes Lane won't see him hiding up in the tree. This phone mistake could be the death of him; Lane has a pretty infamous temper sometimes, and anything that costs him practice time is a _big mistake_.

"Musicals are a waste of time! This school is about bringing up serious actors, not pretty ponies," Lane spits. "Give them detention tonight, this weekend, before school, whenever you want. But _not now_. _Not_ during my practice time. Harris! Oliver! Let's go."

With grins at each other, Beck and Andre hop up and head for the door, offering Sikowitz identical waves as they head off. Beck can see Jade shaking his head; he has a feeling that their big, twisted school is hard to understand sometimes. But that's just the way it's always been – and will continue to be, he thinks.

Practice drags on for hours – literally. Lane wants every scene perfect, and while that quality is occasionally good in a director, right now, it's just tiring. By the end, Beck is halfway convinced that he's going to fall asleep. Andre shakes him as soon as his eyes flutter shut. "Get your head in the play, kid. This is no time for _sleepyheads._"

"Sorry," Beck responds with a toss of his head. "Guess I've just had a lot going on lately. Hey – how much longer do you suppose this is gonna go?"

"Knowing Lane, as long as he wants," Andre says with a sigh. "He's making them do this one a record number of times, though, _probably_ because you're not in it. At least we get a break, eh?"

"Yeah," Beck agrees, sweeping a piece of sweaty, dark hair out of his face. "Hey, Andre, just a rhetorical question, but… have you ever, um, wanted to try something new? Break out of the area of generic theater, expand your horizons, all of that?" He hopes that, this time, Andre won't think he's insane; he has a feeling that it's _not_ a bad idea, but then again, Andre's opinion matters to him. Andre's been his best friend for as long as he can remember, practically.

"Please tell me this isn't about the _musicale _again," Andre complains with a roll of his eyes. "Look, Beck, give it up. We've got a play to concentrate on. Stop your daydreaming. We're all depending on you here, all right? We _need_ you."

_We need you_, Beck repeats in his head. _We need you_.

The thing is that he doesn't want to let them all down.

.

Tori meets Jade outside the front door to the school. She has to admit this is all kind of strange, having people to talk to at school and all, but it's not as if she's going to complain. Tori launches into some sort of speech about how she just _can't _memorize the Macbeth speech and she's going to absolutely _flunk_ the quiz when Jade interrupts her with "Hey, what do you know about Beck Oliver?"

"I was telling a story," Tori protests, looking slightly offended.

"Wasn't listening," Jade tells her with a shrug. "But seriously. Tell me what you know."

"No chance," Tori says with a glum toss of her head. "Beck is like, _the _hottest guy in school, and rumor has it he has a _thing_ with Trina Vega." (Jade has to stifle a laugh.) "Anyway, he is _so_ outside of our league. He hardly even interacts with people like us! And besides that, he's starring in the school play. He is _entirely_ out of our social circle, kay?"

"Yeah, yeah, nothing's impossible," Jade muses, finding this hard to believe. If she wants to talk to someone, she _talks_ to them. Who _cares_ about the stupid social hierarchy? This is a high school, not a freaking historical country.

"Just you wait until we get to lunch," Tori tells her in a low voice.

.

Maybe it's her tiny smile at him during Sikowitz's class that gets him thinking, or maybe he was just destined for Broadway plays all along. Either way, he has gone into a lapse of temporary insanity, because when Andre approaches him in the hallway during free period and tells him that a bunch of 'the gang' is gathering to do a quick rehearsal during free period, Beck quickly refuses and tells him that he's got 'homework to catch up on'. Now, anyone who's anyone knows that Beck Oliver rarely ever does homework, but, well, you know.

He sneaks around, trying to keep himself out of people's sight; he nearly has a heart attack when he sees Lane strolling down one of the hallways. (He doesn't even have to ask; he knows Lane doesn't approve of the school musicals, preferring instead to focus on traditional acting.) But he gets to his destination anyway – the theater, where the auditions are taking place.

Most likely, he's just crazy.

The auditions, led by Sikowitz and his equally loopy assistant slash composer, a ditzy redhead named Cat, go through loads of people, all of whom are (thankfully) worse than Beck himself. Some of them are off-key, some of them are absolutely disturbing (those, he doesn't quite want to think about), and some make him want to reconsider his spontaneous decision to come here. And then…

"What the _heck_ are you doing behind a trashcan, Oliver?"

And _there_ go all of his attempts to stay incognito. He grits his teeth. "I was trying to stay unnoticed, actually, Jade, but thanks for that. I could ask you what _you're _doing here. Decided to sign up for the _musicale _after all?"

"Actually, no." She shrugs. "So what am I doing here? No clue, actually."

He laughs. It's nice to have someone understand how he feels at a critical time such as this one, honestly. But that is all thrown out the window when she teases, "So, is Mr. Tough Guy _scared_ to audition for the musical? Is that what the hiding is about?"

"No, of course not," he says hastily, even though it's pretty much spot-on. "Why? Are _you_?" It's a legitimate question, he's pretty sure, because _she's _back here hiding just like he is.

"Never." She rolls her eyes. "Just, you know, a thing like this would…" They say the next part in an odd sort of unison. "Ruin my rep." And then they both grin and laugh at each other as the curtains part and Trina and her stepbrother Robbie appear onstage.

They're actually not bad, not that they have ever been bad, but they have a recorded version of the song (meaning they don't allow poor Cat to accompany them and even worse, they turn her ballad into an upbeat fluffy pop song) and they already have a dance number practically memorized and it's really quite unfair to expect anyone to compete against them, not that anyone does. He kind of hates that they're the undisputed rulers of the school's drama club.

"Any last-minute signups?" Sikowitz calls to the emptying auditorium once everyone has left. "Didn't think so." He turns off his lamp and starts to walk off when Jade positions herself in his path.

"I want to audition." Not a request, but a statement, and one thing that can most definitely be said about Jade West is that she's got definite _nerve._

"What? Miss… Jade?" Sikowitz looks bewildered. "Well, I mean, I'm sorry, but we just finished pair auditions, so unless you've got someone to sing with you, I'm afraid there's no way I can let you audition. Single auditions were over _ages_ ago."

"I'll sing with her." Beck hears the words slip out of his mouth before he can think about them, and then suddenly he wonders what he's done. _What is going on what what what –_

"Mr. Oliver! This is quite the plot twist! Splendid, but auditions are over," Sikowitz tells them with a hint of sadness in his voice. "I'm afraid that free period has just finished and there's just no time. You could try again in the spring?" he asks hopefully.

"But Sikowitz, she has a _beautiful_ voice," he yells as Sikowitz walks out, the door swinging shut behind him. Head hanging low, he glances over at Jade, who doesn't seem affected at all – that is, until Cat, who is perched upon the stage, drops all of her music.

"OMG," the girl squeals as she bends down to grab it. Exchanging a quick glance, Beck and Jade rush up to the stage to help her, and she smiles genuinely at them. "Oh, thank you guys! I'm so clumsy sometimes, hehe, but it was nice of you to help me!"

"Anytime," Beck replies. "Listen, I couldn't help noticing that Trina and Robbie changed up your song a little bit."

"Yeah," Cat tells him sadly. "They do that a lot, probably 'cause I don't say anything to them. They're just so scary, though. Anyway, hey, you guys wanna hear how the song's _supposed_ to sound? I think it's much better myself, but you know, some people just don't agree."

"Some people are idiotic like that," Jade mutters, but then she continues with, "I'd like to hear it, though, so play it before I change my mind."

.

Jade hopes the girl won't get offended – some people do that, take offense at her sense of humor. But Cat laughs like it was a joke, then positions herself at the piano. It becomes evident in the first few seconds that she is really quite good, not only as a pianist, but also as a composer. And as she sings the first few notes quietly (to get them on track), Jade suspects that she is a fairly good singer too.

The room is soon filled with Jade and Beck's voices blending in harmony. Cat, it seems, was absolutely correct; the song sounds much better as a slow song, and Jade has to admit that she and Beck sound much better together than Trina and Robbie did. Their voices blend perfectly, and Cat seems fairly impressed by the time they finish.

"Oh, I wish you'd gotten to audition," she cries forlornly. "I just can't work with Trina and Robbie again. They're so rude and I don't think they like me at all and – "

"Jade! Beck!" The voice comes from Sikowitz, who is positioned, arms crossed, at the door. "You've got yourself a callback. The date is tentatively set for next week. Caterina, you have that duet from the second act – work with them. Congratulations, kiddos."

"Really?" Cat squeals. "Oh em gee, this is gonna be so much fun! Just come find me whenever, we're going to be _perfect_ and you're totally gonna beat Trina and Robbie! Oh, I'm so happy! Some decent singers singing my composition! Love you guys!"

All Jade can wonder is – _what exactly has she gotten herself into?_

.

When Jade walks into the Asphalt Café (otherwise known as Hollywood Arts' outdoor lunchroom) that day, striding confidently beside Tori, lunch tray in her hands, all eyes are on her. Normally she would love that – being the center of attention is typically one of her absolute favorite things in the world – but she has a feeling that _this_ attention has nothing to do with who she is or any of her talents, but rather because of…

"Why's everyone staring at _you_?" Jade whispers (loudly) to Tori.

Tori rolls her eyes. "Not _me_, stupid. They're all staring at me."

"Just because of the callbacks? Wow, is it that freaking controversial for a freak to audition for a musical with some Golden Boy actor? Have I messed up the flow of the whole school now? Oh, how terrible." Her voice is practically overflowing with sarcasm, sarcasm that makes Tori wince.

"Jade, this is serious," Tori replies, her doe eyes wide with worry. "Trina's _super_ angry, and when Trina's angry, you get her full-blown wrath. She shows no mercy. The musical roles are usually pretty much given to her. I don't think she's ever had any serious competition before."

"This is _serious_?" Jade mimics, her blue eyes flaming with anger. "No, _Tori_, this isn't serious. I'll tell you what it is." She raises her voice. "It's stupid, that's what it is. You hear that? This is so _freaking_ stupid. I don't get why you all have to be all up in everyone's business all the time. And I'm out." She spins on her heel and runs right into someone.

Or, more specifically, someone named Trina Vega, who lets out a loud shriek as soon as Jade's dressing-covered salad hits her front.

Before Trina can attack Jade, Tori drags her off, muttering something about how 'Trina will absolutely claw her throat out'. But all Jade can think about is how she's definitely made a statement. Maybe things will change at this school after all. (After all, someone auditioning for a musical shouldn't be _such_ a freaking big deal.)

.

"I _cannot_ believe this," Trina wails. "Jade just dumped her stupid salad all over my _brand new shirt_! Sikowitz, listen. This is all just a plot to ruin our _musicale_, set up by none other than Beck Oliver and his little cronies. They're trying to ruin me! Ruin me, I'm telling you! They can't sing. Why the heck would those two – who, let me tell you, are probably in cahoots right now, devising a scheme to embarrass us at the play – audition for the musicale? And actually, why would you give them a callback?"

Beck wonders if Trina notices that she's standing in the middle of the cafeteria. But then again, knowing her – yep, of course she does. It's always the melodrama with her.

Before he can get a word in, Andre grabs his shoulder. "Look, kid, we gotta talk. While you were off traipsing about and musing about your callback for the stupid _musical_, this school has been going absolutely insane, let me tell you. It turns out that Ryder Daniels has decided to come clean about him taking ballet. _Ballet_, Beck! Can I emphasize to you again how serious this is?"

"It's just a show, Andre," Beck tells him patiently. "It's not that big a deal."

"Look, _yes_, it really is!" Andre shrieks. "We have a big play coming up, and you're going to be distracted memorizing the lyrics to some show tune so you can sing it with your precious freak Jade West. Newsflash, Beck Oliver – you've got a whole _show_ that's depending on you, and I don't know how you think you're going to cater to them when you're getting involved in this whole _musical_ crap. Just come back to me when you come back to your senses, cause I think your mind is pretty vacant right now." And then, with that, he storms off. Who would've thought that Andre Harris had such a temper, anyway?

.

When Beck Oliver told her to come upstairs and see his 'secret place', Jade was just the slightest bit concerned. But once she got up there and realized that his 'secret place' was, in fact, the roof of the school, all cement and crap but devoid of all humans, peaceful, and quiet, she thought maybe It wasn't so bad after all.

"This is pretty nice," Jade admits as she hoists herself up. "I expected less."

"That's reassuring," Beck says with a quick laugh. "I thought you'd enjoy it, though. You can see the whole world from here, practically. It's like you're on top of the world – everything is at your fingertips."

"Not that we can change anything, though," Jade points out, glancing down at the skyline that stretches out below the two of them. "Like, for example, the people in your play's opinions. Have they found out?"

"Only Andre," Beck says glumly, "and he's about as angry as you'd expect."

Sighing, Jade shakes her head. "It's so tiring, you know, having to worry about what everyone else thinks all the time. Sometimes it's better to just be yourself, the yourself you are when no one else is around."

"Deep thinking there," Beck jokes, elbowing her lightly in her side.

"Don't push it," she tells him, glancing up. "But, you know. I kinda feel like I can be myself around you. I mean, the _me_ everyone knows is evil and disturbing, and well, for the most part, pretty controversial. But this me – I like it, I think." And she thinks that maybe it's true.

.

He can't stop himself from saying what's on his mind when it comes to her. "I like this you too," Beck says sincerely, glancing over at the dark-haired beauty beside him. Her hair is falling down, framing her pale face and, well, there's really nothing more beautiful in the world. "Thanks for coming up here with me." His voice, now, is barely a whisper, probably because he's nervous.

"Anytime, dork," she whispers back, eyes sparkling, and before anything else is said, the bell rings, startling them both out of their reverie. He grabs Jade's hand, like it's the most natural thing in the world, and grins at her.

"We've got to get to class," he tells her with a swift wink, and she just shakes her head. Then she stops, as if she's been in deep thought.

"Are we doing callbacks?"

It takes him a moment. He weighs the possible repercussions of getting involved in this musical against the obvious plus, _her, _and also doing something that he's recently found he likes to do, and it's obvious which one wins. With a dip of his head, he grins. "I'm going with yes."

"Figured you would, Oliver," and then, she keeps going with a grin, "like you'd say no to me." She sticks out her tongue, showing she's teasing, and them pulls him down the stairs back into the corridor, back where they're meant to put on their personas and become the people they _have_ to be, not the ones they want to be. And it stings, sort of.

.

The duet is called 'Breaking Free', and, in order to avoid the wrath of Trina and Robbie, they practice primarily in secret. They become masters of subterfuge, of ducking and hiding in the most obscure of places; Jade complains even still about the mothballs she discovered in Sikowitz's stinky closet. Beck finds it fun, an acting exercise of sorts, but then again, he's sort of the opposite of her in that respect.

There's no fault in any of it - until, one day, due to a practice that goes too long, Beck misses rehearsal. That, in itself, turns into a big problem, especially when he shows up two minutes before practice is about to end and everyone stares at him with dark glares.

"Um, hello, thanks for the warm welcome," Beck jokes in an attempt to break the ice.

"Yeah, hey, traitor," someone remarks sharply, and titters of agreement come from all over the auditorium. Beck hangs his head, his cheeks turning red before he can even so much as stop them.

"Everyone, go home. Rehearse your lines. Let's get this show perfect," Lane calls, and with a nod, most of the crowd slips out of the auditorium. Beck smiles at the director. "Sorry, Lane. I lost track of time."

"Is that your excuse, then?" Lane quips, raising an eyebrow. "You _lost track of time_? Is that all you can give me? Beck, you're my star role, and I cast you because I _thought_ you would be responsible. Apparently, it seems I was wrong. Maybe I was wrong about you all together."

"It won't happen again," Beck tries, his face twisting into a frown.

"And how exactly am I supposed to be sure of that?" Lane inquires with a disapproving shake of his head. The older man quietly disappears into his office, probably to copy off some more scripts or something, and then Jade quietly slips in.

"I figured you'd be here," she whispers, walking over to Beck with a smirk. "So, um, this is your infamous auditorium?" She raises her eyebrows as she twirls around, obviously taking in every aspect of the glorious auditorium. He grins and shakes his head.

"I'm supposed to be rehearsing lines," he informs her.

"Right, right, always the responsible one," she quips with a roll of her eyes. "Which play are you doing?"

"Something that's not from this century, I can assure you," he says lightly, flipping open his script to the very first page. "I believe it's called, like, _As You Like It._"

"Ah, right, the infamous love story of Orlando and his _fair_ Rosalind," Jade replies, her eyes already rolling, and he can feel her disdain for Shakespeare rolling off of her in waves. "Though I have to admit that Rosalind was okay, dressing up as a boy and all of that. Most girls couldn't have pulled that off. But _I _could have. Orlando, though – he was just an absolute idiot. So lovestruck over a girl he barely even knew. What if she was a serial killer?"

"Then I guess he'd be screwed," Beck responds casually, trying not to laugh. "But hey, you _do_ realize that's my character you're talking about there. Orlando is _heroic_, okay?"

"Of course it'd be _you_ playing him," Jade tells him with a toss of her head. "And lemme guess, some cheerleader chick is playing Rosalind."

"Sort of," Beck admits sheepishly. "But I hope you know that there is only one person I want to play Rosalind, and that person is standing right in front of me."

She chuckles, probably just because he's cheesy, and then suddenly his arms are around her, like lightning, whisking her into the air. It's really quite funny; she feels weightless in his arms, and as she laughs, a tinkling sound, he feels happier than he's been in ages. He feels weightless, free, and he thinks that _maybe_ this is what that duet, the _Breaking Free_ one, was talking about.

Then suddenly a door slams and Beck is forced to set Jade down as Lane corners them, a dubious look on his face. "Oliver. Can I have a word with you?"

"You've gotta be Beck's director," Jade says with a scowl. "I'm Jade, Jade West. I'm new here."

"Pleasure," Lane says shortly. "And Oliver, I need a word with you. _Alone._"

He smiles at Jade apologetically as she walks off, leaving him with a casual, not really offended wave. Then, with a frown, he turns back to Lane. "Is there a problem?"

"Is there a problem?" Lane repeats, his anger etched clearly into his face. "Is there a problem? Well, you tell me. Did you _ditch practice_ to play with that girl? Is that what it was?"

"Of course not," Beck replies, surprise alighting his face. "She… it was just a chance meeting, I swear. I was, um, helping my dad out with something. That's why I couldn't make it to practice."

Lane just shakes his head. "Beck, you've always been such a determined boy. Ever since you set foot in this school, I knew you were destined for great things. But getting there is going to require hard work, and this _Jade _girl is not only strange but also getting in the way of your dreams. I don't see how you could want that, Beck. And not only that – now you're auditioning for the _musical_ with her."

"What if I want to sing? A lot of actors do both," Beck argues, his face set into a scowl.

"Actors on children's shows, Beck," Lane replies. "If you want to be taken seriously as an actor, there is no time for singing. There is just working, working, working. You are an actor, _not_ a singer."

"And what if I want to be both?" Beck challenges, stony expression on his face. Then, he decides, there is nothing left to be said, and he walks out, the ghost of what he's just said hanging in the air behind him. But oddly, strangely, he doesn't regret it at all.

.

"This," Andre says, "has gotten out of hand."

"I don't know what you're talking about," is Beck's simple response. And it's true – he has no clue. Is it the musical, the standing up to Lane, the fact that he's been hanging out with the intimidating freak Jade West? What _else_ could go wrong, honestly?

"You are auditioning for a musical, Beck. A _musical. _You're going to be dancing around in tights, Beck, and they don't leave you with much room to breathe, dude! How can this be what you want?"

"Maybe you don't know what I want," Beck growls, turning away from Andre. "Look, Andre, things change. _People _change. When I was five, I was convinced I wanted to be an astronaut."

"Okay, if you wanna spin it that way," Andre retorts, eyes flaming, "let me just point out that with this latest stream of bad decisions, you are affecting not only yourself, but the rest of us too. The rest of us that have rehearsed for this play thousands upon thousands of times, memorized every word to a T, done the stage directions in our sleep – and you're just gonna let us down, just like that. You're unbelievable, man, you know that?"

"I'm not _letting you down_," Beck protests, crossing his arms. "I'm just adding something else too. Done. Easy. Don't worry about it."

"All right, man. All right," Andre retorts, shaking his head. "Tell the director that next time you don't show up to practice because of your new musical fling with that girl. Tell your costar that. Tell the whole freaking cast that. Because it's not just me, Beck, and it's not just you. It's _everyone_. And I'm telling you, I can't – I won't – let you continue like this."

Beck just winced as he watched his so-called best friend walk off, wondering what exactly was on his mind in terms of 'not letting him continue like this'. Andre could be pretty cunning when he wanted to, and well, that was pretty scary in itself.

.

"Danny Rogers, Hollywood Arts class of '67," says Andre as soon as Beck walks in the room. Beck's eyebrows nearly fly all the way up to his forehead once he realizes that the whole darn cast is gathered around the table, all staring at Andre as he speaks. "Julian Keith, class of '89. Robert Smith, class of '91. Beck, do you know who these people are?"

"Y-yes," he stutters out, "but…"

"No buts," interrupts Andre. "You know who these people are because they made it big after Hollywood Arts, and now they're all rich. And you wanna know something? None of these people – not one – were involved in musical theater during their time at Hollywood Arts. _Not one. _Shouldn't that tell you something, Beck? It's time for you to get your head out of the clouds."

"But..." Beck begins again, but once again he is interrupted by Andre.

"I'd like to remind you, Beck, that the callbacks have been scheduled for Thursday night, and that we have our opening night of the play the next day. Are you intending on ditching us just so you can go audition for that pathetic musical? We need you, Beck. _We _need you."

"We need you," chants the rest of the cast in unison. "We need you."

Beck doesn't know what to say.

.

"I swear, Tori," Jade growls as she's dragged by the brunette down the hallway, "out of all the creepy things you've done, this is the creepiest one yet. Oh, and now you're taking me to the janitor's closet? Okay, that's not creepy at all. You're digging into my arm!"

"Sorry, but I had to," Tori whispers, flicking on the lights, and suddenly all of Tori's other friends are surrounding her, creepy people that make her want to get the _heck _out of this closet because they're probably (most likely) going to strangle her or something. "Look, Jade. I just wanted to tell you that Beck Oliver – he isn't good news. He's a Neanderthal, totally and completely consumed with acting, and besides that, he's a jerk, completely and totally. I know you might not take the opinion of a misfit like me, but I _know._" Everyone around them nods in agreement.

"Prove it," Jade challenges, her glare intensifying.

The people around her shrug, and then Tori pulls out a laptop, sets it up, and presses play. Suddenly, Beck's face fills the screen.

"I _am_ dedicated to this play," he says, his brown eyes filled with determination. "This is what I want. _This _is what I need. Jade – she's just a distraction, I know, but I'm going to give everything I have to this play. This singing thing isn't important. It never was. I'm dedicated to you guys, one hundred percent. Obviously you all have underestimated me and my loyalty to this team, all right? I've got this. No – you know what? We've got this. Are you happy now?"

Jade already feels her eyes tearing up, but she refuses to cry in front of – these _idiots. _She bites her lip and shakes her head as his face fades away, leaving her only with the memory of what just happened and a bunch of people who probably don't give a crap about her. "I've got it, okay?" she snaps, glancing at them. "Just leave me alone now. I get it."

"Jade, come on," Tori begs. "You could help us with this script thing and –"

"_Just leave it_," Jade snaps, her eyes darkening. "Have a nice time at lunch or whatever. _Bye._"

It's funny, she muses, how she let herself fall so deeply – how she fancied herself actually _into _him or whatever. He had tricked her; he had let her down. She'd thought he was a good guy. For how long had he been deluding her? Had he never even been into her? Had this all been a _game_ to him? Hot girl, sort of rude – a challenge of sorts. Maybe she was never important to him. Maybe he'd just been fooling her all along, leading her along like a stray puppy dog. But never again.

She is a weirdo, a freak, and he is the golden boy. Stories like theirs just don't happen.

Life, she knows now, is not a fairytale. This is high school, not a far off realm. There comes a time when everyone has to stop dreaming and face reality, and her reality is, at the moment, pretty harsh.

"Jade," Beck greets her happily, walking up to her as she walks back into the hallway, practically in a daze. "So, I was thinking about the callbacks, and –"

"Save it," she snaps. "Look, Beck, you've got a play to worry about, and I've… I'm helping Tori and them with a play. This musical thing – Beck, who are we kidding? We can't do it. It's always been me and it's always been you. There has never been an us, and there will never be. Just go, take your script, be the best there ever was, get a scholarship, go to college, all that good stuff. I'll be just fine on my own. I always have been. I've got no time for idiots like you."

"But Jade…" he says pitifully, but it is far too late – she is already gone.

.

"Oliver," Andre calls in ways of greeting as soon as Beck gets to practice. All Beck can do is manage a half-smile in return, then shake his head and grab his script. He can't deal with Andre – he can't deal with anyone. It is all far too much to handle right now.

"So you're back with us?" one of the girls asks hopefully, and Beck just rolls his eyes. Once he gets up and stalks off to get ready for their dress rehearsal, one of the girls asks, "What's his problem?"

"No idea," Andre responds. Beck is pretty sure, though, that he has a good idea of what happened.

.

Jade doesn't talk to Beck. It is a stony, alarming silence, and he wishes he knew the reason behind it – what did he even _do_, why did she randomly want to call off the audition? He hadn't said anything to her about it; how could she possibly have known?

After an awkward encounter in a cafeteria, though, he heads up to the roof, and ends up being followed there by his 'team', the group of awkward actors and musicians (NOT singers, though, of course). They all stand there for a moment before Andre says, "I'm sorry."

"Excuse me?" Beck inquires, turning his head.

"I should've supported you. We all should have. It was stupid of us to assume that an interest in something means you'll abandon your life dream. And if it means anything, if you land the role in the musical, we'll all be in the front row to hear you sing." Andre smiles hopefully.

"You're not gonna, though," Beck says. "Jade's not speaking to me, and you _know _how stubborn she is. The thing is that I don't get _why_."

Andre chuckles nervously. "Hey, hey, settle down, I might know why. But, uh, you might wanna sit down first, and try not to kill us, all right?"

.

"No one forced Beck to say anything," Jade mutters. "I'm already helping you with your dumb script tomorrow night, all right? You can leave me alone now. I heard what Beck said. I know what he thinks. And you know what? I'm okay with it. I shouldn't have expected anything."

"We planned it!" Tori says, exasperated. "Andre and I, we teamed up. It was wrong."

"Well, duh," Jade says in an I-knew-it-all-along sort of voice. "Of course you did, and yes, it was, but it was _still_ entirely Beck's choice to say those things about me, about us. And, like I said – I should have known better, anyway. We just don't fit together, and we're _definitely_ not meant for musical theater. So just leave me alone, all right? I'm freaking _fine._"

"If you say so," Tori replies dubiously, and then, "We tried," and that is it, that is all. Except not really.

.

It's a spontaneous decision, really. One minute he's at home, parked in front of some trashy TV show, and then the next moment he's at her house, breathless, wondering how exactly he's going to explain this one. He walks up to the door slowly and hesitates before knocking twice slowly on the door. The door opens, and a little boy – a miniature version of Jade stands there, an adorable smile on his face. "May I help you?" he asks.

"Hey there, kiddo, I'm Beck," he says with a grin, reaching down for a high-five. "Is there any way I could talk to your sister? It's just that… I really need to talk to her, okay?"

"Okay," the boy says brightly, and then he yells up the stairs, "Jade! There's a _boy _named Beck here for you! Oh gosh, hang on." He returns five seconds later, shaking his head. "She doesn't wanna talk to you."

"Okay, well, can you tell her I'm really sorry about everything and I screwe – messed everything up really bad? And that I miss her. And I guess that's all," he says decisively. "Sorry to bother you, and it was nice to meet you, um…"

"Jeremiah," the boy says, flashing a smile of bright teeth. "My name is Jeremiah."

"All right, thanks, Jeremiah," he tells the boy with a grin. "And thanks."

.

When he calls, she tells herself she's not going to answer. (She does anyway.) The boy on the other end sounds relieved, but still he fooled her, he tricked her, he let her down – "Hey, Jade."

"Beck," she greets sharply, not having anything else to say to him.

"I'm so, so sorry about what you heard, okay?" Beck says, and all the words are tumbling out in a rush, so fast that they run together in her brain, make everything all the more incomprehensible. "I was stupid, so very stupid, and I didn't mean it, okay? This audition, this music stuff, _you_ – it all means so much to me. I was just tired of Andre's crap, and I burst. It was stupid of me. And I'm so sorry that I heard you. I honestly didn't mean to. But singing – it makes me feel free, Jade, and I want that, and I want you to be up there with me. So, what do you say? Give me another chance? We still have a callback, you know."

"I don't know." Her voice is still sharp, still dark, but he is wearing her down, and she knows he can tell – _she knows_.

"I hope you say yes, though," he says, "because… uh, just turn around."

She does as she's told, and she is, in fact, very surprised to see him standing on her balcony, that lopsided but somehow still cute smile plastered upon his face. He grins at her. "Hey, Jade. Fancy seeing you here, huh?"

"Fancy seeing you getting pushed off my porch," she retorts, but the slight smile on her face probably tells him all he needs to know – that she's not going to push him off, that she still likes him, probably a lot more than she should, at least.

And then he starts singing. He is practically the cheesiest person Jade knows, but she still hadn't exactly been expecting this, and so at first she bursts out laughing. He grins at her, shimmies a little bit for good measure, and then she sighs. "You are the cheesiest person ever, I _swear_. I hate you so much."

"Well, that's too bad, because I rather like you," he says, planting a kiss on top of her head. And what do you know – it feels like a lightning bolt, rushing through her veins, and she kind of (really) likes it.

.

Beck rehearses for the play; Jade teaches her lessers (as she likes to call them) the art of writing scripts. And so it goes. But they make time for singing – they have to. They take breaks, sing loudly, grin at Cat as she plays the piano for them, her fingers moving beautifully across the piano. (Cat, for the most part, thinks they're an adorable couple, and so neither of them mind her presence at all.)

The real, issue, though, comes up when Cat runs to them in the hallway one morning, red curls flailing wildly. "The call backs have been rescheduled to Friday night because of Trina and her dumb brother and I –" She looks like she's going to cry, so Beck gives her a small hug before turning to the sign.

"You've gotta be kidding me," he says with a roll of his dark eyes. "She just can't give it up. The same night – and the same time – as my play."

"And the same time Tori and I are presenting one of our short skits at the school's student night." Jade's eyes go dim. "You've _got _to be kidding me. Seriously?"

"No," Beck says. "No, we can do this, Jade. We can so do this. We just need a plan."

"A plan?" Cat squeals. "Oh my gosh! Coincidence! I love plans."

.

"This," Andre chirps, "is gonna be the best play ever." But he tosses a wink to Beck, one that lets him know that he's still fine with the plan, despite everything that's at stake for the both of them. There, Beck thinks, is a reason Andre has been his best friend for so long.

"You know it, dude, Beck says, blowing a kiss for his best friend – a joke, of course. The two of them grin at each other as they prepare for Beck's first scene on the stage.

Meanwhile, in another area of the school, Jade is gearing up for her first ever reading with Tori. The two of them grin at each other as they read through it one last time, a last preparation before the storm that is to come. (They'll do fine, she knows, but still.)

Just as Jade is reading the first few lines of her script and Beck is walking on stage for his third scene, the power goes out. Both events halt during the 'technical difficulties', and Jade mentally thanks Tori's friend Sinjin for his technical prowess; without him, they would be lost.

The two singers/actors run to the auditorium as fast as their legs will carry them, just in time to hear Sikowitz's call of "Beck Oliver and Jade West". The two of them descend the way to the stage, smiling and holding hands as they do so. Once they reach the bottom, the rest of the cast of Beck's play along with Tori and her friends rush into the auditorium, filling up the last few rows. They grin and wave as Beck and Jade take the stage, both of them grinning at each other as they begin the song. Cat plays perfectly, they don't miss a note – until the end of the song, at least, when Jade's voice becomes quiet. She coughs twice, then blinks. Beck stares at her – what is going on? She blinks, her terror becoming palpable, and Beck starts to get scared for her – this is scary, to be honest. Then he begins to sing her part, quickly, and within a second, she is transformed again, the picture of confidence, a grin on her face. Beck smiles in relief.

At the end of the performance, when he asks, she tells him that she 'lost her cool for a second there.' He just grins at her and says 'you can't lose what you never had'. Then she says, in a more honest voice, 'I looked at you – and I remembered why.' Kind of cheesy, she thinks, but oddly enough, it's true.

.

As soon as she finishes her play, she rushes over to the other auditorium to see Beck's play as it ends. A smile wakes its way onto his face as soon as he sees her in the audience; she simply scowls in return. This makes him laugh, even though it's completely out of character. She scowls even more.

But the rest of the play goes flawlessly. Beck and his castmates nail every line, and she knows that the scouts in the audience are impressed – just as they very well should be. Her boyfriend is an acting genius, after all, and she wouldn't expect any less from him. She stands up on her feet at the end to give him a standing ovation, and everyone around her does the same. She feels like she's on top of the world.

"Hey, idiot," she whispers in his ear once the play is done. "You were pretty good."

"I thought I was pretty darn amazing," he whispers in response, making her laugh. Then he kisses her lightly on the lips, hugging her tight to his chest—and this is the way things are, the way things are supposed to be. Especially when Andre comes up to them and says, "Hey, dude, for some musical theater geeks, you guys weren't half bad." Tori, who is beside him, a smile on her face, nods in agreement, and they all laugh in unison.

If this was a cheesy musical movie, this would be the part where they all hold hands and sing about how they're all in this together.

Too bad it's not.

.

**A/N: I blame Britt and Lauren and Elle and Laura for this and I blame myself for the rushed ending. It sucks but I had a nice time rewatching the HSM movie and envisioning it as Bade and I hope you enjoyed this. This took a ton of effort so reviews would mean so much to me. Okay that's all. Oh and also all credit for the cover pic goes to Laura (lowlaury). And also Liz saw it. Seriously all.**


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